


Broken

by Grimm (TroupeMasterGrimm), TroupeMasterGrimm



Series: Broken!AU [1]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Genre: AND GAY, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Broken!AU, F/F, Genderless Protagonist, Ghost and Hollow learn how to talk half way through the story, Hollow Knight is called Hollow, Hornet is overprotective, I took the Grimm DLC and flipped its lore over the table because i want grimm to live, Knowing me, M/M, Minor Character Death, Multi, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Probably depressing, The Knight is called Ghost, Zote is a vessel, grimmchild is called grimmie, pre-ending as in pre-altered dream no more ending, probably gonna add some pre-ending stories too, since the whole story revolves around what happens after that, this came to be cause i was salty that the siblings dont all get to be happy together, uhhhhhhhh i dont know how to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-07-16 10:49:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16084601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TroupeMasterGrimm/pseuds/Grimm, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TroupeMasterGrimm/pseuds/TroupeMasterGrimm
Summary: Ghost and Hollow have defeated Radiance without either of them dying during the clash.But nothing is ever really the way it seems to be, is it?--Hornet awakens to find her younger sibling on the ground, unconscious, still breathing, but in grave danger.She had to protect them.





	1. Fractured.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [ This chapter turned out suprisingly short, I promise the later chapter will be longer! ]

Hornet woke up, her surroundings silent. That was a polar opposite to the clashing she heard just moments before she was knocked out.

Struggling to get up, she looked around - the infection had withered and fallen apart, leaving the temple pitchblack. She could barely see where she was standing or where the next wall was.  
  
Her nail was laying at her feet, and she kneeled down to pick it up.

As her eyes adjusted, a terrible feeling of dread began spreading in her as she hastily looked around for her siblings.  
  
Hollow was nowhere to be seen within the large ruins of the temple. After several moments of frantic searching, Hornet stumbled upon her younger sibling, Ghost- they were leaned against the wall, unconscious.  
  
When she got closer, she saw the large crack spreading about half-way down their mask. Void seemed to be oozing out of it, but whenever it should have hit the ground, it disappeared. They were breathing, even if only barely.  
  
Hornet didn't know what to do. But she knew she had to do something. She rushed over, picking up Ghost, glancing back at the room one last time before running off, back towards Greenpath, where she'd been residing up until Ghost had shown up in Hallownest.  
  
Most of the infected creatures in the Crossroads lay dead, now that the infection had been destroyed, and the few that still lived began dropping like flies. Sometimes literally.

The infection that had ruined this place was gone, as if someone snapped their fingers and suddenly everything disappeared. Like it never even existed.  
  
She ran through the massive amount of corpses littering the path, and didn't stop until she reached her destination.

\---

High up, in a hidden area within Greenpath, she entered a door covered by bushes.  
  
Here she had been living for almost all of her life. She rarely ever saw her mothers, ever since Herrah had entered the pact with the Pale King and remained in eternal slumber for it, ever since the Queen disappeared into the Gardens after her husband's awful experimentation, and Vespa had died when Hornet was still relatively young. Ever since then, she'd been spending her life all alone, up here, in Greenpath, waiting for change to one day come.

Her place was really not that special, all it had was a bed, a small storage area and that was it. She never felt the need for something like a table or chairs - she never had visitors, and didn't need any of those things herself.  
  
Laying Ghost down on the bed, she walked into the storage area, where many different things were stored. When she emerged again, she was holding make-shift bandages made from the things Greenpath had to offer.

Hornet sat down at the bedside next to Ghost, and began wrapping their head with the bandages, trying to stabalize the crack in the mask so it wouldn't break more. She'd learnt that a broken mask meant death for Vessels when she fought another one a long time ago. She hadn't known that before, and effectively killed them. One of her own siblings.  
  
Ghost had somewhat awakened a protective instinct in her. Whenever they got in serious trouble and would've died, or passed out, anything of that sort- she would step in and save them, bringing them to a nearby bench. She always felt a slight regret, knowing that they had to learn how to take care of themselves, but she always remembered how long it'd been since the last vessel, the one she had slain in Greenpath, had arrived in Hallownest- she wanted change, and she wanted to ensure it this time.  
  
Ghost had proven stronger than she anticipated, especially when they beat her in their match at Kingdom's Edge. That was when she knew they were ready to change this place. They were quite clumsy at first, but they learn quickly.  
  
After doing her best to patch up the crack, she carefully laid them down on the bed, plopping down next to it. She was determined to guard Ghost until they woke up, no matter how long it took.  
  
\---  
  
Hornet had been sitting here now for several days, and Ghost had yet to wake up. She kept almost dozing off, now that she'd gone so long without sleep. But she wanted to stay awake.  
  
She feared Ghost may never wake up. But surely they can't be dead, right?  
  
Ghost's shade would've surely disappeared by then. But it was still here, in their body. So they couldn't be dead, right?  
  
Her thoughts kept overlapping fear. But she shook them off, deciding she'd wait as long as she had to.  
  
\---  
  
Ghost's eyes slowed opened, and took in their surroundings. They had no clue where they were, what had happened, why they were still alive. After several minutes of adjusting back to reality from their dreamless, coma-like state, they began feeling the crack down their mask (which was actually also their face at the same time). Bandages were covering it.  
  
They began hearing the soft breathing of someone nearby. Immediately they wanted to grab for their nail, knowing how much of a deathtrap Hallownest was, before realizing they didn't have their nail. Panicked, they looked around for it, before spotting Hornet, leaned against the bed they were sitting on.  
  
She appeared to be asleep.  
  
After a couple minutes of contemplating their choices, they decided to wake Hornet up.  
  
The latter immediately jumped up at the touch and drew her needle, as if she was expecting to be facing an enemy. She let her guard down when she realized Ghost had woken up, simply staring at them for now.  
  
After moments of silence, she dropped the needle, running up to Ghost and embracing them. She... she seemed to be crying. Ghost could hear her sobbing.  
  
It was new, they weren't used to Hornet being so emotional. They only really knew her as the stern elder sister she was. Not knowing what to do, Ghost began patting her back.  
  
She calmed down after a few minutes, looking at Ghost. "I thought you were dead," she admitted. Ghost tilted their head.  
  
"I've been waiting for you to wake up for numerous days." She looked away. "You just wouldn't wake up. But I didn't give up hope. So I kept guarding you."  
  
Ghost seemed to be happy.  
  
"I-I must've fallen asleep. I'm sorry." She looked down. Ghost patted her on the head, shaking their own, before opening their arms.  
  
"Sibling hug?" Hornet asked, surprised. Ghost had always been very friendly, but she couldn't recall them ever openly wanting to get or give a hug. But Ghost nodded.  
  
Hornet happily obliged.  
  
But what about their elder sibling..?


	2. Lost.

They'd barely been awake for a few hours, and Hornet could tell they needed more rest, but Ghost objected against every type of reasoning she tried. They were set on finding their elder sibling, and they wouldn't rest until they've found them, safe and sound. They at least hoped that.  
  
After several tries, Hornet gave up at convincing Ghost of staying at her relatively cozy home. Or at least Ghost had insisted it was like that, thought Hornet doubted it. How cozy could a bed out of stone be?  
  
"They weren't in the room, Ghost. I don't think they're still at the temple." Hornet carefully chose her words, as to not upset Ghost, but she firmly believed that her elder sibling was probably dead. She assumed they died when Radiance was killed since they were her host. The longer she thought about Radiance and her elder sibling, the more angry she got at her father. How could he do such things? Saving a kingdom wasn't worth sacrificing thousands of lives, including your child's life!  
  
Sighing, she gave in to Ghost's demands, knowing she couldn't keep them here, even if she tried.  
  
Getting up, Hornet grabbed her needle and thread, and gave Ghost their nail back, which had been neatly stored until they would reawaken.  
  
\--

Outside, Greenpath was as it had always been - beautiful, grassy and filled with nature. But it seemed more quiet now that all the infected creatures had died off. Most of the non-infected creatures continued to stay aggressive, even after the infection ended.  
  
They made their way through Greenpath quite quickly, as there weren't any big monsters blocking their way anymore.

Ghost kept trying to convey something and Hornet couldn't understand at all what they meant. Maybe this was easier if they could say words? She knew her elder sibling was once capable of that, but her father had forbidden them to speak. Maybe Ghost was the same? Maybe she could teach them how to say words?  
  
They were making their way to the Black Egg temple, but as they neared the end of Greenpath, they saw a figure that looked an awful lot like Hollow. Ghost immediately went after them, not even waiting for Hornet to come along.  
  
The figure was headed towards Fungal Wastes, and they scrambled after it, but never seemed to catch up to it. Where were they going?  
  
As they neared the Mantis Village, it became evident where Hollow must've been heading - if that was Hollow, of course. They originally seemed to go to the entrance of the City of Tears, but the path had been locked after Ghost went there.  
  
Ghost ran further ahead of Hornet, despite her telling them to slow down and come back several times.  
  
They walked onto a path, and suddenly, as both of them stood on it, the ground began to shake, violently. Awful cracking foreshadowed the following event - and Hornet rushed over to Ghost to push them off of the crumbling platform, but it was too late. The ground caved in, throwing both of them into the depths below, being consumed by the darkness around them.  
  
\---

Ghost awoke alone, and searched around for Hornet, but their sister was nowhere to be found. Ghost began moving along the trails of Deepnest, a place they had explored very thoroughly and had gotten in danger many, many times. It was a cruel area, even without it's previously infected inhabitants, and you could never be sure that you were safe within the caverns of it.  
  
They descended further and further into the nest, until eventually -  
  
Hornet. She was standing there, not looking back. Ghost would've called out to her in the dark, had they known how to make noises, how to speak. But they didn't.  
  
As she walked away into the darkness, Ghost ran after her, but never seemed to catch up. They slashed through all the webs and monsters blocking their path, and just kept running.  
  
They reached the old tram station - slightly broken, but still functional. They saw how Hornet disappeared into the underground tunnel that led from here to Ancient Basin - she must've seen Hollow and was following them right now! Ghost jumped onto the tram station and headed towards Ancient Basin.  
  
\---  
  
As they arrived, the foul smell of the dead reeked in the air. Ancient Basin had always been very quiet aside from the occasional Mawlek, but it was too quiet. Corpses were scattered on the ground. Hornet must've taken care of the ones that got in her way - Ghost followed the trail. Their footsteps were the only noise being made.  
  
They saw Hornet again, climbing up to the palace grounds, where the old castle stood a long time ago. They'd once gone through the White Palace, and certainly had no desire to do so again, remembering the countless traps the old king had reserved to keep out any and all intruders.  
  
Hornet stood just a few feet away from them now, and Ghost ran towards her happily, arms stretched out.  
  
Suddenly, they heard a loud slam, and saw that the entrance they'd come through had been sealed off. That never meant something good, ever.  
  
They next noticed a sickening snap, looking back at were Hornet had been standing. Oh no.  
  
Ghost began shaking, not knowing what was happening.  
  
Her head twisted, and a familiar figure began showing - not quite the same, but similar. Ghost backed up as the figure grew, and twisted it's limbs. Suddenly, wings bursted out of it's back, and it let out an awful screech.  
  
Ghost readied their weapon, staying at the back. This winged version of a monster only known as Nosk to them dashed down from the sky, and Ghost barely managed to dodge. It was way faster than the Nosk they had previously fought inside of Deepnest.  
  
It began spitting fire at them, and Ghost avoided the flames swiftly, before managing to land a blow on the creature. It flew into heights that Ghost couldn't see anymore, and they prepared themselves for an aerial strike.  
  
The thing came down with immense speed, intending to crush the small knight, but instead just hitting them barely, pushing them away. It then jumped onto them, ready to pierce them with it's claws, but Ghost struggled free, hitting Winged Nosk in the head before jumping back to gain some distance. The beast screeched, before taking off into the sky again. Ghost was pressed against the wall, watching for where it would come from this time, but instead, Nosk clung to the wall and spit fire from there.  
  
Ghost ran to the other side of the arena they were caught in, when suddenly, the winged beast grabbed them from behind, piercing its awful claws into their back, as they tried to struggle free, smashing their nail against Nosk's face.  
  
It let go, dropping Ghost from a large height. They dropped onto the floor, shuffling in an attempt to get up, but before they could, Nosk landed above them, claws holding them in place as the creature brought it's grotesque face closer.  
  
Ghost turned away, scared.  
  
As the beast brought it's face close enough for it to bite them, a loud noise interrupted - someone smashed down the locked gate at the entrance of the Palace Grounds, and a needle flew into the fight scene, hitting Ghost's captor in the head, causing it to screech. The needle flung back to it's owner, who took the moment that the beast was towering over Ghost to wrap her thread around Nosk's neck, choking it. In an attempt to come free, the beast flew up into the sky, dragging it's opponent along.  
  
Hornet climbed onto it's back, ramming her needle into it as she held onto it's back with her other hand, until the beast dropped down dead from the sky. Hornet jumped off just before it crashed near the palace's ruins, clinging onto the wall at the other end of the arena, rushing over to Ghost.  
  
She immediately dropped her needle as she approached, letting her guard down, knowing that Nosk was dead for good. Opening her arms, she picked up Ghost, who held tightly onto her. "Are you okay? Did it hurt you bad? What happ-" Hornet interrupted herself as she began hearing... _sobbing._  
  
Ghost was audibly crying as they clutched closer and harder onto Hornet, weeping into her cape, black tears of void staining it.  
  
Hornet, taken aback, simply hugged them tighter, whispering words of comfort. "It's okay, I'm here now, sib."  
  
She held Ghost with one arm, picking up her needle with the other. They walked off towards the stag station nearby, together.  
  
\--

Hornet looked over as Ghost woke up again, head rested in her lap. "Sleep well?" she asked, petting her little sibling.  
  
"I'm sorry for letting this happen- I should be a better protector," she said, looking away. "You nearly got killed because I lost you down in Deepnest." Ghost could tell that she probably was frowning, but couldn't see it. Feeling bad, they hugged her, shaking their head.  
  
Hornet sighed. "Thank you, little one."  
  
She stood up. "Well, let's go. Our sibling is out there somewhere, and we're gonna find them," she probably smiled under her mask.  
  
Ghost nodded, jumping off of the bench as Hornet trotted over to the bell to ring it. "Let's head back to the Mantis Village, maybe someone has seen them there,"  
  
Ghost watched as the stag approached.  
  
\--  
  
Within the mantis village, they descended to the Mantis Lords as their questioning of Hollow had turned up short with the usual mantises populating the village.

Ghost and Hornet landed near the platform where the three sisters sat, and Ghost happily approached.  
  
With a confusing amount of body language, they tried to tell what they wanted to say to the Mantis Lords, but failed, leaving the Mantis Lords with a puzzled expression.  
  
Hornet had to hold back a laugh- Ghost's attempt at communicating frantically with the sisters looked very funny, how they waved their small arms around in an attempt to convey what had happened. "Don't sweat it, sib, I'll explain," she said, picking up Ghost who wanted to protest.  
  
"We're looking for our elder sibling, the Hollow Knight," Hornet said, probably more casually than she should have. She looked at Ghost. "We took care of the infection problem. They're out there somewhere, but we don't know where they went. We saw them pass by the area earlier, but our visit got delayed by a series of events."

The Mantis Lords simply nodded. "Did you perhaps see them, my Lords?" She asked.  
  
The three looked at each other, before the middle one spoke up. "They did indeed pass through the area," she answered. "They were looking for a different entrance to the City of Tears, now that the main gate had been locked by the little one. We directed them to the Royal Waterways' entrance."  
  
Hornet's face lightened up with happiness, bowing before the Mantises. "Thank you, my Lords."  
  
The three wished them luck on their search for their elder sibling as the other two scurried off, the mantises returning to their duties.  
  
\--  
  
The Royal Waterways were a gross and dark place ever since the kingdom had fallen apart. How Ogrim lived here with such joy was beyond Hornet, but as far as she'd heard he'd since moved to Dirtmouth (luckily).  
  
A maze of pipes and passageways, neither Ghost nor Hornet had any idea where their elder sibling could be as of right now. They walked through the area, slaying any of the monsters getting in their way and attacking them.  
  
They passed into an empty room with several platforms, at the top of which they stood- The Hollow Knight. Hornet used her thread and needle to climb up swiftly, Ghost under her arm.  
  
"Hey! Hollow!" she shouted. The figure turned. Hornet smiled under her mask, recognizing her elder sibling. But before she could make the final jump, she noticed something off.  
  
Ghost scrambled out of her grasp and was preparing to use their monarch wings to fly up there, but Hornet stopped them. "That's not our sibling."  
  
With a swift motion, she threw her needle at the crack in Hollow's head. A screech emited, but not one of the real Hollow. It was another of those hellspawns called Nosks. Hornet had heard legends from her mother that there were three different Nosks out there- one that lived in Deepnest, one that travelled between Deepnest and Ancient Basin, and one that lived somewhere in the waterways. However, that story really didn't come to her mind up until now.  
  
She immediately pulled the needle back and readied herself. The gross transformation was hard to look at. It's infected belly was large and bloated, and claws snapped out of it's back as it screeched again.  
  
It began running around the arena, climbing on the walls and trying to hit the siblings whenever it got close enough. It also did the things the previous two had done, spitting fire and infected blobs everywhere.  
  
They could've just left the arena, the entrance hadn't been locked, but Hornet and Ghost both wanted to take care of the last remaining bits of infection left.  
  
They managed to beat it down to it's second phase, as it's claws on it's back twisted backwards and became wings.  
  
With a fierce movement, it ripped out its foreclaws, instantly regrowing them and using the ripped out ones as projectiles. Hornet and Ghost didn't get any chances to attack, and instead got hit several times, striking them down.  
  
Hornet covers Ghost as boulders from the crumbling ceiling fall down upon them, and she thinks this may be the end-  
  
A loud, shriek-like noise rings in her ears, one that did not come from this... Radiant Nosk. It came from something- someone else.  
  
She looked up, seeing her elder sibling above the two of them, shielding them from the beast, having destroyed the boulders with an ability called Abyss Shriek, one that only Vessels can learn.  
  
They stabbed the large, bloated beast with their pretty rundown nail, piercing through it's neck with their nail. The beast let out a scream of defeat, before one of it's own boulders smashes it down onto the ground, burying it.  
  
Hollow stretched out their arm, the one they still had, to help Hornet and Ghost up.  
  
Hornet, unsure of how to respond, since it's been _ages_ since she last saw her elder sibling, simply embraced them happily.  
  
"I'm so happy that it's over," she murmured after a while. "I missed you so much."  
  
Hollow made a noise that sounded happy, before pointing towards the exit of the deadend.  
  
"Right, let's get out of here."  
  
Hollow picked up Ghost and set them down on their shoulder as the three of them left.


	3. Hidden Dangers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [This chapter is super short but that's how it's meant to be! Consider this a little... foreshadowing ;) ]

They'd nearly done it. The door was only a few jumps from here...  
  
They had tried again and again, and Vessel did not know how often they'd retried, but they refused to give up.  
  
A shiver ran down their back. With one leap, the clung to the edge of the cliff they'd failed to reach so many times.  
  
They... they'd done it! They could get out. They just had to climb this little ledge.  
  
A noise behind them brought their attention to it.  
  
A shadow was looming...  
  
Its eyes white.  
  
They felt it trying to enter their mind, the one that was supposed to be hollow, but like all the other failed vessels, they had thoughts.  
  
The edge cracked.  
  
They lost their grip as the being entered their shell, and they dropped back down into the Abyss.  
  
They fight, they don't want to hear that thing, but they give up, unable to shake off whatever entered their mind.  
  
Orange bubbles began overgrowing it's body slowly, as with the rest of it's surroundings.  
  
The door lays shut now.  
  



	4. Learning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ i lied about posting chapter 4 once chapter 6 is half way done, as ive barely done a quarter of chapter 6 now. 
> 
> I also remember there were some mistakes in this chapter but i dont have time to find them ]

It'd been a while since Hollow, Hornet and Ghost had returned home from the Royal Waterways. For now, they decided to stay in Greenpath.  
  
They had to expand the small building a bit though, since a) Hollow barely fit into any room without crawling and b) one bed is too few for 3 people.  
  
They'd been working a couple of days, and soon their new little hideout looked even better.  
  
\--  
  
It's been about a month now, and Hornet had finally decided it was time to teach the two how to speak words. She knew they could make noises, and she knew that Hollow used to be able to talk, but had probably forgotten it by the time they'd freed them from the Black Egg Temple.  
  
Hornet wasn't exactly the best teacher out there, but she certainly tried her best, and although it didn't look too good at first, after a while Hollow managed to say their first actual sentences again. Ghost took a bit longer, since they'd never spoken before, but they were also making progress.  
  
Within a couple of months, Hornet was sure they'd speak just like any other bug in Hallownest.  
  
\--  
  
During this time, Ghost and Hollow began training first with one another, but eventually, they realized they weren't getting much better anymore unlike at the start, so they began moving around the areas of Hallownest to find people to train with.  
  
While they trained under the Nailmasters extensively, the most training time they spent with the Mantis Lords.  
  
That one was Ghost's idea, because they wanted to become more agile and frequent with their attacks, as to not give enemies a break to heal up. While the infection was destroyed, Ghost felt like there could always be more danger, and they wanted to be ready - just in case.  
  
Hollow simply followed suit, and within a few days, they began having a routine of going down to the Mantis Village to train underneath the three sisters, who humbly accepted the request.  
  
Most of the Nailmasters were far away, so they visited them less frequently than the Mantis Lords, but still quite often.  
  
__  
  
Hornet noticed how much progress the two had been making with their speech, and while they in the past usually only talked with one another, they began speaking out loud with people after a while, which was good. They'd inquire when they didn't know certain words yet, but they understood the basics of language now.  
  
Frankly, Hornet felt quite proud of that. She was very happy to see them making progress and getting better.  
  
__  
  
After several months of begging, Ghost and Hollow finally got Hornet to also frequent the training sessions, which was especially good for when they trained with the Mantises - this way, they could have three on three matches without any problems.  
  
Hornet was reluctant at first, she didn't really like training with other people - Vespa's death left a mental scar on her that she connected with training. But Ghost and Hollow tried their best to help her overcome this, or at least cope with it better than she was currently.  
  
She realized that it actually helped her, and she preferred the idea of facing her problems instead of running away from them even longer (she'd done so long enough).  
  
At first she only came along for every third session, eventually it went down to two, and soon after she'd accompany them for every single one.  
  
\--  
  
Ghost had grown a lot, so much that they'd actually be considered an adult by then. They didn't reach Hollow in terms of height, though, who was still big enough to pick them up with ease. Hornet kind of envied that - not in a bad way, but she wished she'd also grow taller someday.  
  
Funnily, it was as if Ghost had a growth spurt all of the sudden. They just grew immensly in comparison to their original height within a matter of weeks. They were even taller than Hornet now, making her the smallest of the trio.  
  
\--  
  
After spending nearly half a year living pretty secluded from everyone, with the occasional visitor (usually Ghost bringing people they'd met on their journey, the most frequent one being Quirrel), they decided to move to Dirtmouth, like most people living in Hallownest had done by now.  
  
There were plenty of open houses in Dirtmouth, and the trio settled on a relatively big house simply so Hollow and possibly Ghost don't have much trouble getting around.  
  
The house was kind of extensive so they had a lot of space, which was good in case anyone ever needed privacy. When they lived in Greenpath, that was kind of hard, considering how small their building was.  
  
\--  
  
Hornet had only begun noticing it now, but Ghost definitely had a thing for Quirrel. They talked about him so much and they were always super shy around him, even if they did their best to not let people notice.  
  
She decided to talk to them about it today.  
  
"Ghost, we gotta talk," she said, leaning against the kitchen sink.  
  
"Is it about the book? I told you, I wasn't done reading it yet-"  
  
"It's not about the book," she replied firmly. Ghost looked at her with suprise, and she gestured to the chair.  
  
Ghost took a seat, watching Hornet, waiting for an answer.  
  
"You like Quirrel, don't you?" she asked, secretly smirking underneath her mask. She was really overprotective of her siblings, yes, but she liked messing with them a little every now and then, and she couldn't help but giggle when Ghost suddenly became all nervous and blushy.  
  
"What makes you think that!?" they exclaimed, covering their face.  
  
"Well, you always hang out with him, you constantly talk and gush about him, you get super nervous when you're alone with him-" Hornet counted down a couple of reasons.  
  
Ghost got even more red-  
  
"It's cool though, he's a cool guy." Hornet looked back at Ghost. "You should tell him how you feel- I can tell he also likes you."  
  
Ghost looked up. "He likes me?"  
  
Hornet snorted. "Have you ever seen him when he talks to you? He's just as awkward and nervous as you, if not even more! He definitely likes you back,"  
  
Ghost seemed flustered.  
  
"Hey, you got this, sib. And if you need help, just ask me," she said, giving a slight wink.  
  
"What kind of experience do you have with that kinda stuff??" They asked, confused.  
  
"None personally, but there were some people who really liked me back then. I wasn't interested in any of them, even though some of them were very sweet- And Mom always had good advice on that, even if we rarely talked about it. I'm sure I can help you out even a little bit,"  
  
Ghost tilted their head, before nodding.  
  
As Hornet headed to leave to her own room, she heard Ghost's voice. "Thanks, Hornet!"  
  
"You're welcome."  
  
\--  
  
It's been a couple of months and Hornet's decision to help Ghost out with getting together with Quirrel had worked out great. The two were so cute together.  
  
A new bug had moved to town- her name was Myla. She'd been affected by the crystals in Crystal Peak, and was later on taken ahold of by the infection, as Ghost had told Hornet. They were very happy to see her feel better and return to town now that she realized how bad the crystals were for her.  
  
Normally this wouldn't be such a big deal, new people regularly move to town now that Dirtmouth is becoming more lively. But-  
  
Hornet really liked her. She found Myla adorable beyond comprehension.  
  
Ghost liked to tease her with that, because they noticed right away.  
  
One time, Ghost asked why Hornet doesn't just tell Myla how she feels, but Hornet insisted that it was too early and she wasn't ready yet. Ghost accepted the answer, but has been inviting Myla more regularly ever since.  
  
Hornet was so nervous, like more nervous than she'd ever been since the day they went to go and free their elder sibling.  
  
She'd just wait to find the right moment.  
  
\--  
  
A while ago, the group had visited Kingdom's Edge to meet with Nailmaster Oro. After they returned from their training session, they made their way back to the next stag station (King's Station, in this case), but on their way there, they met a strange person.  
  
Ghost recognized them when they got close enough - it was Tiso, and he seemed to be in trouble.  
  
A couple of knights from the Colloseum were messing with him, pushing him around and the likes. The trio was still further away from the happening, and Hornet suggested approaching slowly, when suddenly, one of the knights took out their nail to strike Tiso down. He couldn't dodge or put up his shield in time-  
  
Hollow stepped in before they could hurt Tiso, parrying the attack with their own nail. They stared down their opponents angrily, who became filled with fear at the realization of who was in front of them, and scurried away.  
  
Ghost and Hornet caught up to their elder sibling, who turned to Tiso. "Are you alright?" they asked, having to kneel down to look at the bug properly. They inspected him from head to toe, making sure he was unharmed. Tiso simply nodded in shock and confusion.  
  
Ghost stood next to Tiso. "Everything alright? Those guys from the Colloseum being mean again?" they asked, and he turned to look at them, nodding. He seemed too surprised by what happened to even try and defend himself like he usually did.  
  
Hollow squinted their eyes as they saw a pretty bad slash wound on Tiso's left arm. "You should come to Dirtmouth with us - ought to get that patched up," they murmured.  
  
"I-I can take care of myself!" He stammered, trying to motion with his arms but flinching in pain.  
  
"Don't be ridiculous. You can't just go back to the Colloseum with a wound like that," Ghost said, shaking their head. "They'll tear you to shreds if you'd do that."  
  
Tiso wanted to object something but Hollow picked him up before he could protest. "Come now, it won't be so bad," they smiled. Tiso's protests died down, and he looked very confused and flustered.  
  
Hollow commented on how that was cute, causing Tiso to pull down his hood and hide his face underneath it.


	5. Grimm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Mun note: This is easily the longest chapter of the story, unless the Godmaster or final chapter somehow manage to be even longer. ]

Quirrel had made an unusual discovery while out exploring the Howling Cliffs, and returned to town to inform the others.  
  
He mentioned it looked like a ritual site, and that there was some foul smell coming from a room across from the site, but he'd been too afraid to cross it. That's why he turned back and wanted to go back with the others instead of going in alone.  
  
Ghost was excited - aside from the training and taking care of the occasional disturbance in Hallownest, this might prove to be the most exciting thing to happen since they slayed Radiance.  
  
Hollow, while less thrilled than Ghost, was still eager to see how this would turn out.  
  
Hornet on the other hand didn't like the idea of going to some ritual site at _all_. It sounded like a horrible plan to her, to be frank, and messing with a place like that was no good. Still, she agreed to come along - even if less for her own ethusiasm and moreso to ensure the safety of her siblings and friends.  
  
\--  
  
As they climbed the steep edges of the Howling Cliffs, Quirrel led them into a hidden room which held the weird site.  
  
Nothing seemed to odd at first, other than the two lantern-like objects and the altar in the middle. At the far end of the room was a hidden entrance, Ghost had found it rather quickly. There, the corpse of a bug in strange clothing was lying, and it seemed like that's where the lead ended.  
  
Hornet was relieved, thinking that there was nothing to do anymore and that they could return home safely. "Nothing here. C'mon, let's go," she said, turning around to leave the cavern.  
  
Quirrel and Hollow began following her outside, but Ghost stopped. They pulled out their Dream Nail, using it on the body. Unlike every other time, there was no thoughts or memories. It was empty.  
  
Disappointed, Ghost turned around walking away towards the entrance they'd come from, eyes focused on the ground. They didn't look where they were going, and bumped straight into Hollow, who stood at the entrance of the ritual site, staring in awe.  
  
Ghost looked past them, seeing the odd red tone the room was now tinted in. The altar was glowing, unlike before, and Ghost could see the telltale signs of when a dream warrior is nearby - only that they were in red. The atmosphere was weird, almost pained. Ghost felt uncomfortable and yet comforted at the same time.  
  
Hornet stared in shock at the glowing altar, stepping back slightly. Ghost immediately saw their opening, pushing past her, inspecting the altar. "Ghost, you should get away from that thing,"  
  
"No! I wanna see what happens," they replied firmly as they pulled out their Dream Nail again. They heard voices but couldn't tell what they said, it was too jumbled of a mess.  
  
Hm. Dream Nail did nothing. Ghost grabbed for their normal nail, smashing it onto the altar. Hornet yelled for them to stop messing with the ritual site, but as the altar reacted to the force, Ghost got even more intrigued. They struck it again.  
  
And again.  
  
And again.  
  
And suddenly...  
  
With a loud hiss, the flames on the torches lit up, roaring. Hornet jumped back, grabbing Ghost by the neck of their cloak.  
  
The cave began rumbling, and Hornet, fearing a collapse like in Kingdom's edge, grabbed both Ghost and Quirrel, Hollow running after her as they rushed out of the cavern.  
  
But there was no collapse, and the shaking stopped.  
  
They inspected the inside thoroughly, but there was nothing off, other than the lit flames.  
  
As they made their way back to Dirtmouth, Hornet scolded Ghost for what they did - they may be an adult now, but sometimes they still behaved like a child. Plus, she thought it was kind of rude to attack a ritual site like that.  
  
As they stood above Dirtmouth, Hornet, being at the front of the group, looked down to the town with shock - two tents had magically appeared while they were gone, and it looked nothing like anyone in Dirtmouth could pull off.  
  
They simply passed the tents at first, speaking with the townsfolk who'd gathered near the tents. Almost everyone was here - Elderbug, Myla, Tiso, Sly, Cornifer, even Zote was here.  
  
Chatter filled the middle of the town, everyone was trying to figure out what had happened and why this tent suddenly appeared here.  
  
Hornet, despite having as much of a clue as anyone else in this town did, told them that they could relax, as the three siblings would go and see what's up and take care of them. Neither Ghost nor Hollow objected, and simply nodded.  
  
The townsfolk thanked them and returned to their usual duties, and Quirrel promised to keep on lookout in case something went down while the three were going into the tent.  
  
While the small one caught Hornet's attention, they decided to first go into the bigger tent, guarded by two steeds.  
  
Inside, it was warm, and the path was barely lit - only at the very end of the corridor did the three see a light.  
  
There was an odd bug on the way, playing an instrument that none of the group knew.  
  
The bug looked down at Ghost as they approached.  
  
"Mrmm. You called us?"  
  
Ghost gave a nod.  
  
"Speak to Master."  
  
He looked in the direction where the corridor seemed to end. Ghost thanked him, before heading towards the ending, while Hollow and Hornet followed just a bit behind.  
  
"This is weird." Hollow commented quietly. "Yeah, it probably wasn't such a good idea to hit that altar after all- but something compelled me to do it," Ghost admitted.  
  
"Yeah, your curiousity probably." Hornet rolled her eyes - Ghost usually ended up getting into trouble whenever their curiousity made them want to do something.  
  
In the center of the room that seemed like an arena, Ghost stopped, feeling a presence. Scarlet lights flickered on and moved around the area, shining onto the three a couple of times. They then lit up the same spot.  
  
With a puff of red smoke, a new bug appeared, looking very odd and different from any bug the group has ever met. He stood with his back turned to them as the smoke faded.  
  
"So, it was you who called us."  
  
He paused, turning his head towards the three.  
  
"Well met, my friends. Well met. I am Grimm, master of this troupe. The lantern has been lit, and your summons heeded."  
  
Hornet glared at Ghost, before sighing, looking back at Grimm.  
  
"A fine stage you choose, this kingdom fallowed by worm and root, perfect earth upon which our ritual shall take place."  
  
Ghost stared with surprise. What did they expect from a ritual site, though?  
  
Grimm turned to them.  
  
"And you, my friend. Your own part is far from over."  
  
He bows before them.  
  
"As the lantern flared your role was cast, our compact written in scarlet fire. Eager we are to see you commence, but first, some illumination is required."  
  
Ghost tilted their head, and Hornet squinted her eyes.  
  
With a small cloud of smoke, a small bug appeared, flapping its tiny wings, letting out a soft noise.  
  
"Across these lands my kin now spread, harvesting that essence peculiar to my... breed, the flame in dream. Seek my kin; claim their flame and return it to me. Together, marvels shall be achieved. But don't fret, small ones. For this task you won't travel alone. My child shall guide you to the flame and gather within itself that burning essence. Like you, the child plays key role in this task. Only with it by your side will the flame, and my kin, reveal themselves to you. "  
  
With that, Grimm disappeared back into a cloud of smoke, vanishing from the scene.  
  
The child landed on Ghost's head, purring softly. They picked it up, carrying it in their arms. "You will lead us to the flames?" They asked, to which the creature responded with another cute _myah~_ and freed itself from Ghost's grasp, flying towards the exit. "H-Hey, wait up!" Ghost ran after the little one, closely followed by Hollow and Hornet.  
  
\--  
  
The flames were located in Greenpath, Crystal Peak and the City of Tears each. The Grimmkin were not hard to fight, though their movements would've probably posed a challenge had Ghost, Hollow and Hornet not trained under the Mantis Lords for so long.  
  
With the Grimmchild having consumed all three flames, they headed back to the tents.  
  
\--  
  
"I can feel it. The warmth of the flame you've gathered together. A masterful opening act. The air hums with excitement. Dear child, you've done so well. Let your fire burn even brighter!" Grimm looked delighted.  
  
Ghost felt something was off. Grimm may have looked happy, but something was troubling him on the inside. Ghost was hellbent on finding out what it was.  
  
The child transformed, looking more powerful.  
  
"But your search is far from over. Go seek out my kin- the child will lead you to them,"  
  
With that, he disappeared again.  
  
Ghost felt troubled.  
  
\--  
  
They returned with the next three flames, from King's Pass, Resting Grounds and Kingdom's Edge. Grimm still seemed happy, but much less than the first time. He stared at Ghost, as if he was trying to read their thoughts.  
  
The stage behind them lit up.

"Wonderful. Wonderful! My kin arrive and the time has come. This searing fire... It carries well the Ritual's promise."  
  
Hornet and Hollow, who were several steps behind, got locked out.

"Dance with me, my friend. The crowd awaits. Show them you are worthy of a starring role!"  
  
With that, they initiated a fight. Hornet immediately clung to the bars keeping her and her elder sibling away from their younger sib. She watched the fight unfold with horror and fear, afraid that Ghost may get hurt.  
  
Ghost swiftly dodged most attacks while getting in hits on Grimm, but the latter ended up surprising them with an attack they'd never seen, causing them to get injured. Hornet gripped on tighter, but Ghost got back up instantly, and continued the dance.  
  
After what felt like forever, Grimm finally stopped Ghost in their tracks, defeated by them. He disappeared, and Ghost looked around.  
  
"Bravo, my friend. Hear how the crowd adores you! They've not seen such a show in a long time." He muttered as he reappeared in front of Ghost.  
  
With the snap of his fingers, Grimmchild reappeared as the crowd vanished.

"Look here! How our child has grown, nourished and strengthened by the heat of our passionate dance! The two of you will feature in many tragedies and triumphs together, I'm sure."  
  
Grimm looked down, almost sad.

"...And so our great Ritual nears it end. Will you continue to harvest the flame, even though now you surely see the path it illuminates for us? Our scarlet eyes will watch you keenly... friend."  
  
His last line sounded almost like a call for help.

"Go out into the darkness. Harvest the last lingering embers of this Kingdom. Then return to me and we will complete our dance."  
  
He disappeared again.  
  
Ghost felt worse, their stomach twisting in pain.  
  
\--  
  
  
The last three flames were located at the Fungal Core, the Royal Waterways and the Hive. Hornet didn't want to accompany the group for the last one- Ghost knew why, and didn't want to inquire about it.  
  
They decided to take a rest before returning to Grimm, catch a goodnight's sleep.  
  
But Ghost couldn't sleep. They got up after twirling around in bed restlessly, sneaking out and walking towards the tents.  
  
\--  
  
They entered the tent. It felt cold. The tent had never felt cold.  
  
A knot of dread began forming in their stomach.  
  
They liked their friend. Like... love like. A lot, actually.  
  
When Ghost had first spoken of this to Quirrel, the latter said that it was quite alright and there was nothing wrong with loving two people at the same time. In fact, he admitted he'd taken quite a liking to Grimm as well, having spoken with him while they were out finding the flames.  
  
Ghost could tell Grimm wasn't as alright as he was pretending.  
  
Brumm was nowhere to be found. The tent was dark.  
  
Pulling out their lantern, Ghost neared the back room of the tent, now open for them to access.  
  
There he was- Grimm, sleeping, hanging upside down. Ghost was surely not one to question how one sleeps - they've slept in weird positions before too.  
  
But what scared them was his twitching, his uneasiness. He seemed scared. Was he having a nightmare...?  
  
Unresponsive, Ghost took out their Dream Nail, entering the dream.  
  
\--  
  
As they awoke, it felt different. It wasn't soft, or warm like any other dream had been thus far.  
  
It was both too hot and too cold at the same time. They couldn't decide whether to be shivering or sweating. The atmosphere was tense, it felt like someone was scared, paranoid. Things you expect a nightmare to feel like.  
  
Ghost ran to the end of the corridor, feeling unreasonably long in comparison to it's real world counterpart.  
  
There he stood, but engulfed in fire. His comforting black-ish tones had turned into scarlet red.  
  
No.  
  
This was not Grimm.  
  
This was his worst nightmare.  
  
A fight was initiated, much like the last, but even more fast-paced than any of the fights they'd had with the Mantis Lords. They never could tell what he would do, or where he would appear.  
  
He, the Nightmare King.  
  
Sometimes he'd stop midmotion, as if Grimm was in there, calling out for him to stop.  
  
But those moments were brief, and not enough to give Ghost time to think of a strategy.  
  
The battle got more heated with every second, and the Nightmare King had an upper hand.  
  
Ghost was going to be thrown out of the nightmare at this rate, like always when they lost in dream fights. They knew this.  
  
But they had to help Grimm somehow!  
  
The Nightmare King just seemed immune to their attacks.  
  
\--  
  
Hornet was clutching her little sibling's unconscious body, staring up at Grimm's disturbed sleeping motions. Something was up.  
  
The Grimmchild has woken her up and brought her here after Ghost had entered Grimm's nightmare.  
  
Ghost's crack looked worse than before. Not that it was more cracked, but it was leaking void. Something terrible was happening in that dream.  
  
Hornet held the body tighter, praying for the little one to wake up soon, healthy.  
  
\--  
  
Ghost had been beaten to the ground, void running down their wounds and dropping onto the arena instead of disappearing. They couldn't stand steady on their left leg anymore - it was too injured.  
  
As the heart beat got louder and louder and the Nightmare King approached for the final hit that would send them out, Ghost, in a fit of panic, used Abyss Shriek to make him back off.  
  
He teleported away, and Ghost had a split second time to think of what to do - one more hit and they would be defeated.  
  
As spikes came from the ground, Ghost dashed forward using the Shade Cloak to stand in between the thorns, watching for where the King would come from.  
  
He reappeared in front of them, and Ghost took this moment to quickly pull out the Dream Nail, but instead of slashing him, they rammed it into him, piercing through his stomach.  
  
The Nightmare King let out a screech, falling over.  
  
Ghost rammed the Dream Nail in even deeper, pushing further and further.  
  
He began to fade into red essence - nightmares.  
  
Despite it being risky, Ghost began focusing, in an attempt to absorb the nightmares into the Dream Nail, in hopes of banishing the Nightmare King into it - they had no clue what could be the consequences, and did not care. The only one mattering right now was Grimm, and Ghost saw this as the only way.  
  
It worked - the nightmares began disappearing into the Dream Nail, just like dreams did when they'd fought Dream Warriors.  
  
The Nightmare King was sealed into the blade, and the dreams fell apart.  
  
The world began falling apart, and Ghost felt dizzy from the nightmare essence.  
  
They passed out.  
  
\--  
  
As Ghost's eyes opened, they saw only black. They didn't know where they were.  
  
As they got up, they heard the squeak of Grimmie, as they've started calling Grimmchild. The little one let out a flame to light the way, seeing as Ghost didn't have their lantern in this odd realm, nor any other of their belongings.  
  
Whenever some nightmarish shadow crawled out to reach out to Ghost, Grimmie would spit out a flame to keep it away, making it vanish. Sometimes Ghost didn't even see the monsters, but the small bug would lash out at any of them.  
  
Now that they took a closer look, Grimmie looked different - more grown, wings fully spread across their body rather than just tiny tatters of their full potential. The scarlet eyes also stood out.  
  
At the end of the path Grimmie was leading them down, Ghost saw Grimm.  
  
They began running towards him.  
  
A few feet away, they slowed down, and Grimmie rested on their head.  
  
"So you've returned," Grimm looked at them. He was sitting, looking exhausted. As if something had worn him out very badly.  
  
"And you brought our child." He huffed.  
  
Ghost wanted to speak, but they felt a lacking of their voice. It was as if they'd forgotten to pronounce letters all over again, and their "Are you okay?" simply came out as a whimper.  
  
"I'll be alright, my friend." Ghost looked at him in shock, he answered as if he could read their thoughts.  
  
After a moment of silence, he motioned for them to sit down.  
  
"...But why did you save me? They all ever only wanted the powers the child offered."  
  
"Rituals, repeating for decades. I do not know how many I've done ever since that cursed day."  
  
Ghost tilted their head to signal confusion.  
  
"Sit with me a while and let me tell you a story, my friend."  
  
Ghost nodded.  
  
"A long time ago, my friend... an evil entity haunted the land of Hallownest."  
  
He looked down.  
  
"The now deceased king offered a reward for anyone who could locate and kill the being that caused everyone nightmares."  
  
"But all the knights that came failed. None of those to face the King of Nightmares ever returned."  
  
"The king grew desperate... and on that fateful day, he called upon me."  
  
His gaze shifted back towards Ghost.  
  
"I used to work at the Pale Court, you see... I was talented in relieving people of nightmares. I knew how to take away the scarlet flames that caused them."  
  
"Knowing I might be of great help, the Pale King took me alongside two of his best knights with him. Unfortunately, their names have fallen out of my memory after such a long time."  
  
"I located the cause, and they went at it."  
  
"But their weapons stood no chance against the mighty being only known as the Nightmare King."  
  
"We were also accompanied by some of the court magicians."  
  
"In an act of desperation, because the Nightmare King was about to kill us and flee... they sealed him inside of me on the Pale King's command."  
  
"It was a painful feeling, and I do not remember what happened after the immense pain, seeing as I passed out..."  
  
"But when I awoke, I wasn't home."  
  
"The Howling Cliffs."  
  
"A location I'd never seen before."  
  
"I was forbidden of returning home, because I was filled with the nightmares now."  
  
"I was hated and unaccepted..."  
  
"But out there, I met new friends."  
  
"The Grimm Troupe..."  
  
"The Pale King was not satisfied with me only leaving home, he was afraid I might cause trouble or that the nightmares wouldn't stop... my troupe and I were sealed away into the ritual site."  
  
Ghost watched closely.  
  
"Ever since then, I'd only come out when someone had summoned us."  
  
"It happened more often than you might think."  
  
"I was bound by the rules of the ritual to never ask for help... but there was always a cry for one."  
  
"The nightmares I endured over the last few decades.... I'd always believed the Nightmare King would kill me and take my body to return to the world of the living. I was afraid."  
  
"But none of the summoners ever cared... they only wanted the power of the Grimmchild at their side."  
  
"While it may have never seemed so, the Nightmare King and I were nowhere near being on good terms. He hated me, I hated him."  
  
"And because I was his host... he made my life as horrible as possible."  
  
Grimm sighed.  
  
"You, my friend, were the first person to ever inquire, to care about more than the Grimmchild... You were the first person to ever attempt to free me."  
  
"And you succeeded. The Nightmare King's influence is gone. I feel... sort of empty. As if I was missing something..."  
  
"But don't understand this the wrong way, my friend. I am delighted that he's gone."  
  
"It will take time to get accustomed to it."  
  
Grimm was smiling.  
  
Despite how exhausted he must've felt, now that he was free from decades of torment, he got up, reaching out his hand to help Ghost up.  
  
"Thank you so much, my friend. I cannot ever repay you for your kindness... but I will do everything I can to get close to doing so."  
  
Originally their hands seemed to part, but Ghost intertwined their fingers as soon as they got up.  
  
"..Is that what you wish for?"  
  
Ghost chuckled, finally having found their voice again. "Yes, but only if it were alright with you." God, that sounded sappy.  
  
Grimm snickered. "If it is what you truly want."  
  
They walked away together, with their child.  
  
\--  
  
Hornet had gotten Grimmie to bring Hollow and Quirrel, and the three were now sitting in the room together in anticipation, waiting for Ghost and Grimm to wake up.  
  
Ghost began moving, and Hornet loosened her grip.  
  
They opened their eyes.  
  
"Are you alright? What happened?" Hornet immediately inquired, barely giving Ghost time to react.  
  
They got up, looking at Hornet.  
  
They hugged her.  
  
"Thank you for watching over me while I was in there, sis," they murmured happily.  
  
Hornet was stunned for a moment, before breathing out, returning the embrace. "Please don't do something like that ever again," she replied, rubbing away tears. "I thought you'd died..."  
  
They stood there in silence for a while. When they felt it was right, Hollow spoke up.  
  
"What happened in there?" They asked, looking up at Grimm.  
  
Ghost sighed. "It's a long story... I don't think I'm ready to tell it yet."  
  
"But at least he's okay now." Ghost smiled.  
  
Hornet huffed. "At least you're okay," she murmured. "Let's go home."  
  
Ghost nodded, but first, they pulled out a paper and a quill, writing down something.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"I'm leaving a note for him. He should come by tomorrow - we've got a long story to tell."  
  
With that, the five left.  
  
\--  
  
Ghost slept well, even if a little long in comparison to their normal sleeping habits.  
  
Hornet, Hollow and Quirrel had already been awake, sitting at the table.  
  
"How's our little hero?" Hornet asked, watching Ghost walk towards the second of the two remaining chairs, sitting down. She playfully nudged them. "Stooooop," they muttered, still seeming kind of tired.  
  
Grimmie let out their cute _myah~_ before sitting down on Ghost's head, who petted them.  
  
\--  
  
A while had passed, and the four were happily chatting, Ghost deciding to explain what happened last night. Quirrel, Hollow and Hornet were listening eagerly to try and understand what happened, while Grimmie chimed in with commentary every now and then.  
  
It was somewhere around that time that there was a knock at the door. Ghost could already guess who it'd be-  
  
They opened the door to see Grimm. He looked rattled and like he'd just gotten up or something. "Come in," Ghost invited, giggling.  
  
Grimm seemed a lot more awkward and less confident than all the times they met him before.  
  
"I've already started telling the story," Ghost said as they sat back down. "Maybe you wanna continue?"  
  
\--  
  
The whole story was a lot to take in, and Ghost and Grimm gave the others time to think about it for a while.  
  
They stood together at the window, watching the rest of Dirtmouth.  
  
For a while there was just silence, until Grimm spoke up, looking over at Ghost, who was resting their head in their hands on the windowsill.  
  
"How do you think your boyfriend is going to react to this?"  
  
Ghost hummed. "He'll take it well. I've spoken a lot with him about you- He really quite likes you as well, Grimm." They sighed happily. "I heard he visited you a lot while we were out looking for the flames."  
  
Grimm nodded. "He did indeed. A very interesting person- and kind of..." Grimm paused, looking for a word. "Cute," he added, smiling. Ghost giggled. "He sure is."  
  
Silence returned.  
  
"..So what are you and the Troupe going to do now? Now that the ritual curse has been lifted, I mean."  
  
"Well... Brumm and I thought that we might as well just stay here, become permanent residents of Dirtmouth- Not like there's anywhere else to go outside of Hallownest- And I'm not keen on living somewhere in the middle of Hallownest's broken buildings. Plus, that way we won't have to move the tents again."  
  
Ghost blinked. "Why live in the tents? There's plenty of open houses left in Dirtmouth."  
  
"There is?"  
  
"Yeah, the town once flourished with life, but ever since Hallownest fell apart... You can see what it's become."  
  
Grimm hummed, looking back out the window.  
  
\--  
  
Things had settled down, although some of the townsfolk weren't exactly the happiest when they learnt that Grimm and his group would permanently stay in the town now, but Ghost figured they'd get used to it sooner or later.  
  
It's been a while now- Grimm had started dating both Ghost and Quirrel, and the three were so happy together.  
  
The whole dilemma had settled down, and while it took some convincing on their side to do, the townsfolk began accepting Grimm and his troupe way better among themselves- so much, actually, that it was barely noticable that they haven't been living here since the very beginning.  
  
Still, Ghost couldn't help but feel like something was going on down in Hallownest still.


	6. Gods and Glory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ - = the change between rooms/bosses within godhome]
> 
> Happy Halloween! I'm going to try and finish up the story today.

The Royal Waterways - a treacherous place, not to be meddled with unless you have experience as a traveller and fighter.

However, this is the place from where Dirtmouth got it's water supplies, and the pipelines recently stopped giving out water.

The three siblings offered to go down into the waterways and deal with whatever has been disrupting the water supply.

\--

In their descent, they noticed that the Flukes had spread all across the waterways, way further than they normally do. Hornet easily identified this as the problem. But what was the source of the Flukes going so far away from their main territory?

Slaying any of the Flukes that got too close and attacked them, they went even deeper into the Royal Waterways.

There, in the same dead-end that they've fought Radiant Nosk in, they found what caused the spread.

"God, that's gross..." Hornet stared at the beast in awe as well as disgust.

A giant Flukemarm was hanging from the ceiling, constantly birthing new Flukes. Ghost looked away with a slightly nauseated look, because this Flukemarm looked very, very nasty. Ghost had fought one in the past, but this one seemed worse than any they'd seen before.

"Let's just get this over with quickly-" Hollow said, grabbing their nail, walking towards the giant grotesque monster. It gave off a weird noise before spawning more Flukes.

Ghost clung to the wall nearby. "Behind you, sis!"

Hornet turned her head before smashing the two Flukefeys approaching her, then throwing her needle to pierce through Flukemarm. As the needle retracted, Hollow smashed the thing with their nail, while Ghost climbed to the very top, trying to cut the thing out of it's hanging membranes on the ceiling.

"Ghost!" They heard their sibling yell, before a needle flew past them, killing four approaching Flukefeys.

Ghost cut the connecting membrane between Flukemarm and the ceiling, causing it to flop onto the ground, and Hollow killed it with their nail.

The beast let out a gross-sounding scream before dying.

"Well, that's that. Let's go home." Hornet cleaned her needle off before hanging it around her shoulder.

"Wait, maybe there's still another one left?" Ghost asked, walking towards the wall on the left of the room. "I feel like something's back there."

Hornet squinted her eyes, running her hand across the wall. "You're right. The wall is loose here." She stepped aside. "Break it open, Ghost," she murmured. Ghost stepped in front of the section before using Shade Soul, crashing through it.

They immediately ran ahead, into the large, open space in front of them. It was filled with garbage and treasure- flooding down from up above, from the Fungal Wastes.

"Wow, what a junk pit," Hollow commented, getting up after they had to duck to be able to get through the passage. "Ghost, wait up!"

But Ghost couldn't be halted anymore, and they dashed across the pond to the other side. There, they inspected a large coffin, accidentally breaking the chains it was locked up with when they touched it. A figure fell out, laying facedown.

"Ghost, stop right there! What are you doing?!" Hornet yelled, running up behind them with Hollow.

"The feeling is coming from this thing! I wanna know why!" they shouted back, pulling out their Dream Nail.

"Ghost, stop! Don't do that!" Hollow sounded very worried.

Hornet grabbed onto Ghost's shoulder, same as Hollow, trying to drag them away, but it was too late, and Ghost hit the body with the Dream Nail. The world faded.

\--

"Blasphemy! Rank blasphemy!"

"Ye crawlers! Ye cringers! Ye smallest of the small!

By what right dost ye trespass here, in this home of the Gods? Shrivel away and begone! Begone!"

\--

Hornet groaned, getting up. What just happened?

She looked up, watching the clouds at her... feet.

She stepped back, bumping into Ghost, who was getting up.

"Look what you got us into, numbnuts!" she said, shaking her head.

The place looked as if was heaven - like actual, literal heaven.

"Did we die?" Hollow asked, rubbing their head.

Ghost looked around in confusion. "How are you two here? When I dream nail people I normally enter dreams alon-" "I don't know, okay! What did you do, Ghost!?" Hornet looked angry, more angry than she'd ever been with either Hollow or Ghost, ever.

She looked even more angry than when someone attacks her siblings.

"Calm down, sis. I'm sure we'll find a way out of here," Hollow commented calmly, putting their hands on their sister's shoulders. She took a deep breath.

"Alright. Alright. Okay."

After a few minutes of calming down, Hornet sighed. "So what now?"

"Check out the area I guess? I don't know how to get us out of this dream world." Ghost replied, climbing the pillars ahead of them.

They arrived at a strange door - it had something written in an ancient script. "Hornet?" Hollow asked as they attempted to decipher the words.

Hornet looked at it closely, squinting her eyes. "Pantheon of the Master." she said. "Think we should go in there?"

Ghost was already acting out their thoughts, entering the pantheon, closely followed by Hornet and Hollow.

\--

"Wretches! Ye hast ordained your own destruction!

Through sacred combat are We attuned to this Kingdom's greatest beings. By entering this gate ye hast challenged the very Gods of this Kingdom!

Dost ye consider thyselves the equal of this pantheon, of its masters? Draw thy weapons then, fools of fools, and be damned for thy arrogance!"

\--

As they awoke, they found themselves on an arena.

Surrounding them were three Vengefly Kings- letting out an earpiercing screech.

They posed no threat, even in this large a group, as it was a three on three and the flies were quite weak. They went down within less than a minute.  
-  
The room suddenly changed, and this time Hollow found themselves on a pillar in the back, watching Hornet and Ghost fight three Gruz Mothers. They posed no challenge, even with higher numbers.  
-  
The room changed again. This time, both Hollow and Ghost were in the back, with only Hornet left to fight. A knight in shining armor appeared - Ghost recognized it as False Knight.

But didn't they kill that one?

They thought about it, before remembering they were in a dream. Anything was possible here.

Hornet decimated False Knight without any problems.  
-  
The next monster was faced alone by Hollow. It was a Massive Moss Charger.

No problem. Hollow easily took it down, watching the four creatures scurry away.  
-  
Ghost stood alone before the next boss. It was Hornet - like she'd been when they first entered Hallownest. Ghost held up their nail to defend her attacks, striking her down, even though with a lot of hesitation. They couldn't see Hornet sitting in the back, but they thought she might be there.

Hornet stood back up, and Ghost was caught off-guard by her when they saw she was bleeding. They kept asking if she was the real Hornet or a fake like all the monsters created in this godly realm, but she didn't respond.

After several minutes of weighing their options and dodging, Ghost killed Hornet, watching her body fade to dreams. Alright - it wasn't the real one.  
-  
They arrived at a hot spring and a bench, and decided to take a break for a moment.

"What is this place?" Hornet questioned, looking at her feet. Hollow, who was too tall to it on the bench, looked at her from over their shoulder. "Looks like some place where Gods are worshipped."

"Or in this case, less Gods, more enemies we've faced throughout time."

"Please tell me we don't have to fight Nosk or Flukemarm again. I don't think I'm ready for that."

Ghost sighed, getting up. "Let's go. Maybe we'll get out of here more quickly then."  
-  
Next up was Gorb - Hollow faced him alone. The only thing that really proved as a problem was Hollow's size, as it made it hard to dodge the projectiles.

-  
Next up was the Dung Defender, more commonly known as Ogrim. Ghost had fought him before, but the battle still proved at Ogrim was a worthy opponent, even if in dream form this time.  
-  
The Soul Warrior was easily defeated by Hornet - his movements were no match for Hornet's fast-paced battle style.  
-  
Finally, the Brooding Mawlek came. Hornet and Hollow had to face two of them at the same time, but it proved to be no problem.  
-  
They arrived at another resting spot. There, Godseeker stood.

"Why hast ye crept into this pantheon, o meagre ones? The noise of your wriggling creates much discord, drowning out the godly resonances We attune Ourselves to! Dost ye mean to thwart our sacred goal? Dost envy drive ye to such madness? We pray that the Gods of this Kingdom punish you, obliterate you, utterly destroy you!"

Ghost and the others proceeded.  
-  
Ghost found themselves in a arena together with Hollow. A loud thud toned behind them, and Nailmaster Oro stood before them. They braced themselves for a fight.  
  
\--  
  
"Tiso, have you seen Ghost?" Grimm and Quirrel walked up to the bug, hand in hand.  
  
"No, sorry. Didn't they say they wanted to go to the waterways to take care of the water problem?" He replied, fiddling with his shield. It had some scratches on the edges and he wanted to remove them.  
  
"Yeah, but it's been almost a day now and they're still not back," Grimm looked away nervously.  
  
"What if something happened to them?" He asked.  
  
Tiso got up, brushing off any dirt on his armor. "Well, you got a point," he replied, "let's see what's up down there. Maybe they're in trouble."  
  
They walked off towards the stag station together.  
  
\--  
  
"There they are!" Quirrel ran up to the three bodies lying on the ground- not dead, just unconscious. He looked at the much larger body in front of them.  
  
"What happened to them?" Tiso asked, stopping next to Quirrel, looking at the large creature as well. "And what is that?"  
  
Grimm stepped up, his expression concerned. "They entered the realm of dreams," he replied, kneeling down next to Ghost's body.  
  
"Wait, so you mean like back then with you and the Nightmare King?" Quirrel asked, looking over.  
  
"Yes, only this time it's dreams, and not nightmares."  
  
Tiso hummed, sitting down beside Hollow's body. "So we just wait for them to wake up?" he asked, blinking, to which Grimm nodded.  
  
After a few minutes of waiting, Hornet began moving. She jumped up when she felt Quirrel trying to help her up, but relaxed when she heard Hollow say that she can calm down.  
  
The three were still kind of in a daze, especially Ghost, who looked like they were hit by a bunch of spores from Fungal Wastes. Grimm took them under the arm, placing it around his shoulders to make sure they don't fall over or something.  
  
Hornet groaned. "What happened in there?" Quirrel asked curiously, to which she only shook her head. "A.. A lot." She tried to stay steady, but plopped down onto the floor, trying to catch her breath properly. "I can't believe you did this like every day, Ghost," she admitted, slowing down her breaths. "I'm still dizzy."  
  
"We have to go back," Ghost insisted, "We need to help them,"  
  
"Ghost, I know what you mean- there was clearly something wrong in there." Ghost awaited a 'but' from Hornet, but it didn't come. "Just.. Just give me a minute before we go back in, okay?" Ghost nodded. "Take your time."  
  
Tiso looked around confused, arms wrapped around Hollow who was struggling to not fall over, even when only sitting. "Mind explaining this one to us?" he asked, noticing that Grimm and Quirrel both had about the same expression and understanding as him. Ghost began explaining.  
  
\--  
  
After several minutes of an explanation, Hornet got up. "Let's get back in there," she huffed, standing behind Ghost and putting her and on their shoulder. She turned to the other three who newly arrived. "You coming along?" Tiso nodded without hesitation, and the other two followed suit.  
  
\--  
  
Godhome was a _mess_ when they arrived and the group stared in shock.

The creatures had broken free from their pantheons and they were roaming the area.

A large group of Vengefly Kings and a Massive Moss Charger approached them, and they barely dodged in time.  
  
Several mobs began gathering up to try and kill them.  
-  
The mobs proved weaker than they expected, but they came in large numbers and exhausted them more than actually doing damage to them.  
  
That's why the Nightmare King, even as only an apparition, had such an easy time to throw them out of Godhome - he simply swiped them off the ground, causing them to fall into the abyss of clouds beneath them.  
  
\--  
  
When they awoke, Ghost immediately got up and tried getting back into the dream world, but it failed. The dream nail couldnt enter the dream anymore.  
  
"What's going on?!" They yelled, and kept retrying.  
  
Grimm put his hands on their shoulders. "That dream is no longer a normal dream... it's a nightmare now," he pointed towards the scarlet flames floating above the creature's head. "Your dream nail isn't strong enough to enter such bad nightmares."  
  
Ghost knelt down, staring at the body. They looked up Grimm. "What can we do for them then?"  
  
Grimm looked puzzled. "How have you been making the Dream Nail stronger till now?"  
  
Ghost blinked. "I've been collecting Essence from the Whispering Roots and Dream Warriors in Hallownest."  
  
He hummed. "The same principle applies to Nightmare Essence. Just with nightmares instead, yknow?"


	7. Gods and Nightmares.

Ghost and the others had returned home.

There was nothing they could do for poor Godseeker until they Dream Nail was strong enough to enter such vicious nightmares. The look on Godseeker's face was the most horrifying when they left - crying tears of void.

Their only way of achieving enough power to enter Godseeker's mind once more was to gather scarlet flames - nightmares. Luckily, Grimm maintained the ability to find nightmares still, and they soon began their hunt for them.

\--

The path led them along all trails of Hallownest, far and wide. Ghost gathered flame after flame with the Dream Nail, and with every single one the fire in the blade burned brighter - was the Nightmare King still aware?

The route they'd taken ended at the Ancient Basin - there where Ghost had previously fought their Lost Kin.

The silent cries of someone haunted by nightmares stemed from them- the Broken Vessel lay there, little droplets of void running down their face. Ghost ran up to them, trying to speak, but they could not hear what their sibling heard.

They used the dream nail, and something flashed before their eyes-

Orange. Pain. Crying. Void. Empty. Light. Death. Aimless wandering.

Ghost stepped back in shock, breathing heavily.

Abyss.

The Broken Vessel stared up at them, Ghost stared back. They let go of the Dream Nail, causing it to vanish, before reaching out their hand to help Brokey up.

Silently, the two walked past the others, and moved towards the Abyss. Hollow followed, and the other four walked behind at a certain distance. 


	8. Broken Radiance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here it is, the final chapter of Broken. It feels nice finally having at least one written project finished.
> 
> Thank you guys for all the support, I hope you enjoyed reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it <3

It was disgusting, really -

The further they climbed down towards the corpses of many, many Vessels, the more infected bubbles were growing on the sides. It was much like the Forgotten Crossroads when the seals started breaking.

Ghost felt sick, and they could tell Hollow felt the same.

Hadn't they defeated Radiance? Shouldn't the Infection be gone?

Why was it here? What had they done wrong?

The little crawlers crossing the Abyss were infected, pustules pulsing on their body. They had to be fought off whenever one got to close.

With every platform, the infection got harder to avoid, and the orange glow began getting to them.

\--

Hornet and Ghost slipped and fell, too late to grasp anyone's hands. Their bodies hit the ground hard, and the infectious aura of the area didnt make it any better.

When they got up, they found themselves at the center of the infection - it looked worse, much, much worse than the Infected Crossroads.

Ghost let out a gasp when long dead vessels began rising through the infection and trying to kill them. They fought back to back, pushing back the literal waves of vessels out to get them.

As they finally fell and stayed down, the two managed to catch a short breath, hearing the rumbling of Hollow, Grimm, Tiso and Quirrel landing.

The group headed out of the main area, moving towards the tower sitting in the Abyss - but Ghost and Hollow are cut off from the rest of the group as a gate fell shut, seperating them.

Before them stood another vessel, one of it's horns cut off clean, and it's body was overgrown with infected pustules. They let out a cry, unwillingly charging towards them.

It seemed this one was Radiance's host.

Ghost and Hollow began fighting it, but the Vessel was faster and stronger than they anticipated.

It fought with a nail that had a broad edge, and- their cut-off horn. Did they do this to themselves?

The fight was tiring and Ghost barely managed to keep up at times, but they pushed Vessel back, before Hollow beat them down, and the Vessel lay still for a moment.

Something sinister was in the air.

The slimey, orange pustules in their eyes began rolling out, and a silhouette resembling Radiance appeared.

It began merging with corpses of long dead vessels, and forcefully creating a body out of Void and Light.

The group had reunited and attempted to stop this giant beast, but it knocked them out.

Ghost's world began fading.

\--

The area felt dreamy, unreal. Ghost noticed Hollow lying close to them, but their face was a mess of clouds. "It's all lost," they whispered.

Ghost looked down. They were right, weren't they? Radiance came back stronger than before, and all was lost now.

No.

They need to at least try and fight it. They ran up to Hollow, pulling them up. "It's not over yet!" they said, looking at Hollow's misty face. "We can't give up yet. We have to try."

Hollow's face appeared through the mist, and they nodded. "You're right, Ghost. Giving up won't bring us anywhere. We're too close,"

The spirit disappeared, but Ghost didnt.

Frantically they began looking, before they noticed Tiso. He looked full of fear and doubt. As Ghost approached, he turned to them. "We can't make it. That beast- it's.. it's too strong."

That was not a very Tiso thing to say.

Ghost looked at him.

"Are you really just gonna give up like that?"

Tiso's expression was surprised, and he squinted his eyes.

"That's not like you. You're no coward. If you were to go down, you'd go down fighting, and not giving up like a coward."

Tiso got up.

He nodded.

He disappeared.

Ghost found a trail leading to Quirrel and Grimm. They both looked in despair.

"We cannot beat it. Was this all for nothing? Are we just going to die like this?"

Ghost approached them.

They'd never seen either of the two so... empty. Devoid of hope.

"We'll never make it."

Ghost wanted to speak, but their breath hitched in their throat. What was this feeling of.. sadness? They haven't felt this in a long time.

Void dropped to their feet.

The two turned, and saw Ghost standing there, silently crying.

No moment later, the three stood together united, Quirrel and Grimm having run up to Ghost to embrace them.

Ghost spoke up after a few minutes of silence.

"It's not over yet. But... I can't do this alone. Please don't... please don't give up yet."

The two nodded - with that, the spirits vanished.

Ghost enjoyed the calm for a while, before realizing someone was still missing-

Hornet.

They ran along the now dark trail that would bring them to her.

\--

She sat alone at the edge of a cliff, looking downwards.

"What's the point of this? Mother is dead, Father is dead, Queen Vespa... she lays in a coma."

She looked up.

"So many people have died. They will never get their happy ending."

She sighed.

"Why bother? We couldn't save everyone."

"We still have to try."

Ghost sat down beside Hornet, who looked over at them.

"Even if we can't save everyone, we have to try our best. We have to try for the best possible outcome. Isn't this what they would've wanted?"

Hornet looked down into the endless abyss.

Her tough facade cracked.

This might've been the first time Ghost had ever seen her spill a tear.

Ghost couldn't figure out what to say, so instead, they hugged her tight. She returned.

They must've sat there for a while before she'd calmed down.

After a while of silence, Ghost looked at her.

"C'mon. We can do it."

Hornet reluctantly gave a nod. The spirit faded.

Ghost was ready to leave, but they began seeing the spirits of their siblings rising. 

Did they intend on rebelling?

As if they could reach Ghost's thoughts, one of them nodded.

Ghost nodded back.

The world faded.

\--

As they awoke, the rest of the group was gathered around them. "They're awake!" they heard Hornet say. As they got up, the group looked out from the tower to the giant masses of Siblings rising from the pile of bodies, fighting the unstable form Radiance had taken on. 

"We have to help them." Ghost murmured.

With that, the group left the tower.

\--

The form was massive, and you could barely avoid any of it.

They fought hard alongside the Siblings, but Radiance just wouldn't fall.

However, they did seem to be doing damage, as it cried out in pain.

One of the Siblings tore open the eyehole shielded by the face of a dead vessel, and Hollow struck it with their needle, quickly joined by Ghost and Hornet, who also began stabbing their weapons into the eyehole - it was the weak spot.

The creature fell, but it tried to regain it's strength and attack again - the attack would've killed them.

A massive, shadowy arm reached out of the pile. It grabbed Radiance, it began tearing her apart.

The messy form faded, a flash of light remained, which was consumed by the Shade Lord. And with that, the Shade Lord remained still for a moment, before it disappeared back into the ground with the shades.

The infection withered away immediately, and there was no sign of Radiance left.

The story was over.

\--

Things returned to normal, though the whole thing was a lot to process.

Either way, Ghost almost immediately headed back to Godseeker, to fix things up with them.

Now that the Dream Nail was powerful enough, Ghost cleaned up the dreamworld of Godseeker thoroughly before returning to reality.

Godseeker had thanked them and later moved to Dirtmouth as well.

The town was lively now, and while not everyone lived... they had managed the best ending possible for this situation.


End file.
